Heat transport of naturally occurring temperature differences between stream and streambed pore waters results from advection, due to intra-gravel flows, conduction through the sediment and fluid matrix and diffusion [Anderson, 2005]. For the last several decades, temperature has been used as a tracer to quantify water fluxes into streambed sediments [Bredehoeft and Papadopulos, 1965; Constantz and Thomas, 1996; 1997; Goto et al., 2005; Stallman, 1960; 1965] and hyporheic exchange [Gordon et al., 2012; Hatch et al., 2006; Keery et al., 2007; Swanson and Cardenas, 2010]. Temperature also has been used to investigate discharge losses in streams [Constantz and Thomas, 1996; 1997], and interaction with riparian vegetation [Constantz et al., 1994].
A primary engineering issue associated with bodies of water is the spatiotemporal changes that occur in the waterbed surface, such as changes resulting from scouring and deposition processes. As an example, changes associated with scour adjacent a pier can undermine the structural integrity of the pier. Methods have been developed to address these issues, such as acoustic techniques for monitoring waterbed environment. However, these known methods require elaborate and expensive equipment. Accordingly, a need exists for a robust and inexpensive apparatus and method for monitoring waterbed environment changes.